Knitting machine



Nov. 20, 1945. F. R. PAGE 2,389,209

v KNITTING MACHINE Filed 061'.. 20, 1943 Patented Nov. 20, 1945 KNE'ETING Frank R. Page, Laconia, N. H., assigner to. Scott is Williams, Incorporated, Laconia, N.. H., a corporation of Massachusetts Application OctoberZO, 1943,' Serial No. 506,989

(Cl. 6ft-45t)- 8 Claims.

This: invention relates to improved means for effecting the picking of needles in the formation of' fashioned portions of knitted' wear as, f oreX- a-mpl'e, the heel and toe pocketsof stockings.

In knitting machines having independent nee'- dl'es',` fashioning is accomplishedr by picking needl'esY out of action, as in the narrowing operation of forming a heel or toe, andthereafter picking the inactive needles into operative position, as inl thewidening` of heels and toes.

Consider, for example, a knitting machine having a rotary needle cylinder; The picks when idle are stationary, but when engaged by a leading needle; of a differentiated series, will be movedv laterally; at the-same time being guided to moveaxially and engagel the butt of, and thereby move longitudinally, the needle effecting the lateral movement. and sometimes one or more adjacent needles'. The pi-cking ofY a plurality of needles is theusualprocedure effected by the widening pick in a widening operation, whereas, for narrowing and. also in the widening operation a single needle7 is` generally picked by the narrowing picks at eacl'r operation though under some circumstances there may be multiple needle picking of needles out of action. 'I'he butts which are acted on by the picks are not always carried by needles directly but may be carried by jacks or sliders as, for example, in double cylinder machines. It will be understood that in stationary cylinder machines the same relative picking movements resuit, though in such case the picks rotate, having differential movements imparted to them upon their engagement withY butts.

Picking action of the type just indicatedis conventional', and is ordinarily attained with no oliiculties.v Troubles, however, have been eX- perienced in group needle picking in ine gauge knitting', particularly on ne gauge hosiery ma*- chines. The trouble is due in a large measure to the ilexibility of the fine gauge needle butts and the walls of the needle cylinders between which the. needles slide during knitting. Due to this' nexibility and to close arrangement of needle butts, as well as to the fact that in multiplel needle picking the picks necessarily have a substantial lateral extension, a pick is likely to have a movement relative to the needle cylinder of suincient lateral extent to pick a needle beyond the group desired, whereby the prescribed' picking sequence would be disturbed.

It is the broad object of the present invention to provide improved picking means whereby the difficulties just indicated are avoided and proper picking of only the desired needles is insured.

This general object, as welll asY other objects of' the invention, particularly relating` to details, will become apparent from the following description read in conjunction with the accompanying` drawing, in which Figure lis a View in side elevation of a wideningv pick assembly provided in accordance with the present. invention, mounted in a bracket carried by the bed plate of a hosiery knitting. machine.; l

Figure 2 is an elevation of thesameviewed from the face adjacent the. needle. cylinder;

ligurey 3L is` an enlarged detail View showing the, pick-.of Figures 1` and 2v and adjacent parts; and

Y Figure 4 is an` elevation showing the. end of a. narrowing pick also embodying the princi-ples of the invention.

Referring irst to Figures 1, 2, and` 3, therey is illustrated therein a widening pick 2 havingI a.. shank 4 pivoted: within a. slot 8 in a shaft l-D by meansor apivot piny the shaft lll being mountedfor rotation in a bracket M secured to the bedplatel 1.62 of the: knitting machine. A spring |2-' urges. theshait land the'pick carried thereby' in a counterclockwise direction as viewed inr Figure l. FromA one-end of the: shaft If there extends an; arm itxy engageable, by a` spring-urged button1 2d tofmove the pick 2 downwardly from; the pick-l ing position. illustrated inaFigureV l to rendery it inoperative at the proper times.

Cam plate 2-2 carried. by the brackety i4 isprovided with an inverted v-shaped opening having sides 24 and 26 within which opening the shank d of the pick normally rests under the action of the spring t2". This plate'22'has laterally extend'- ing; lower edges 23I and 3U forming continuations of the sides 24' and 26 of the opening.

Pivotedr to the bracket at 35 are arms 32 andf 313i extending upwardly on opposite sides of the shank or the pick, thesey arms being urged? towardieach otherby a spring 38 connected between thema andE being guided by a plate 4t which positions them and' also limits their movements.

To; the extent so far described the pick assem- -biy is conventional' and is as illustrated, forv ex" ample Patent No. 1,841,205, dated January r2", i932; Conventionally, the inner butt-engaging end of the pick is provided withl a central downwardl'y extending portion and laterally extending wings, the lowerv surfaces of which lie in a common plane. Inaccordancewith the present invention, however, the wings shown at 42- and 44A' have their lower edges sloping downwardly and outwardly being in a sense undercut as indicated at 4E.

Above the central position of the pick is a cover cam 48 having sloping edges 50 and 52 terminating in downwardly directed points which are slightly below the outermost ends of the wings 42 and 44.

The widening pick illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 3 is designed to lower four needles in a single operation. As shown particularly in Figure 3, the butt 54 of the first needle (or jack or slider) of a group riding at the inactive level has just eni gaged the pick 2, The butts in approaching the pick will have passed down the edge 52 of the cam 48 so that they are brought to a level to pass below the right-hand end of the wing 44. At the time the butt 54 engages the pick, four butts will be beneath the right-hand wing. As the movement of the needle cylinder proceeds, the pick 2 will be moved toward the left as Viewed in Figure 3 so that its shank will ride down the cam edge 24 of the opening in the plate 22. As such downward movement of the pick takes place it will, due to the slope of the lower surface of the wing 44, engage successively the butts of the fourth, third, and second needles before engaging the butt of the needle 54 As a result the static friction loads of the four needles are assumed successively and the kinetic friction load is assumed gradually. Since the load imposed to effect downward movement of the pick is taken up by the leading needle butt 54 alone, it will be evident that this butt is much less loaded, as well as less suddenly loaded, than would be the case if all four butts were engaged simultaneously, so that a minimum deflection of the butt 54 toward the right relative to the other butts occurs at the time that descent of the fourth butt 55 begins. If thereafter, as the other butts are successively encountered by the wing, the butt 54 does deect still more, the result, nevertheless, cannot be that of permitting the pick to engage the fth butt 5S. inasmuch as the right-hand end of the wing 44 will have dropped below the upper edge of this butt even before two butts are engaged, The result is that even if abnormal fiexure of the butt 54 takes place relative to the cylinder, after loading of the pick by several butts occurs, so as to, cause the end of the wing 44 to be engaged by the butt 5B, that engagement will be merely on the side face of the butt 56 under relatively low pressure so as not to cause the butt to be lowered.

As the shank of the pick leaves the lower end of the slope 24 and moves further outwardly in contact with the edge 28 the butts are engaged by a cam in the usual fashion, whereby they are caused to ride downwardly out of engagement with the pick. As soon as the pick is released by the butts it will be returned toward its normal position -by the arm 32 and then, after clearing the edge 28, will be caused to ride upwardly towards its normal central position by the action of the spring i 2, riding on the lower edges of the butts of the inactive series and, after they pass, rising to its uppermost position preparatory to engagement by the butt of the leading needle of the inactive series in the reverse oscillation of the needle cylinder. Upon such engagement, the events previously described will occur on the other side of the pick, cam edges 26 and, 30 then serving to define the right-hand movement of the pick,

In brief, by virtue of the slope of the under surface of each wing, the load imposed on the leading butt due to the resulting successive action of the pick on the butts is substantially less than that which would be imposed if the pick simultaneously acted on all of the butts within its range and is less rapidly imposed with the result not only of avoiding undue stress on the leading butt but also insuring non-picking of any needle beyond the desired group due to butt deflection, i. e., lag in the swinging movement imparted by the leading butt,

In Figure 4 there is illustrated the application of the invention to a narrowing pick 58 which, as illustrated, is arranged to raise in the same operation the two leading needles of an active group. The mounting of such narrowing pick may be conventional and is such that as motion toward the left is imparted to the end of the pick, as viewed in Figure 4, it will move upwardly carrying with it the butts engaged by its wing or lateral extension, the surface of which is indicated at 60. As inthe case of the widening pick, the surface 60 slopes outwardly, from the surfac'e engageable by the side of the butt 64, in the direction, upward, in which butts are moved by the pick. Figure 4 illustrates the conditions which may arise just after the pick, having slightly raised the second butt 65, has begun the upward movement ofv the first leading butt 64. If the butts and cylinder walls are flexible, the leading butt 64 may be displaced to the right relative to the other butts as indicated with the result that the right-hand end of the pick may move into engagement with the side of the third butt 65. However, by this time, since initially it engaged only the second butt, it will have risen suiciently to have its outermost portion pass above the lower edge of the third butt so that, even if it engages this butt, it engages only the side thereof and Will fail to move its frictioned needle upwardly,

As in the case of the single-acting narrowing pick 58, it will be obvious that the invention is applicable to single-acting widening picks such as are also in common use.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination of a multi-needle pick and its mounting for a knitting machine which contains elongated slidable butt-carrying elements adapted to engage the pick and to be moved longitudinally thereby, the pick and mounting being arranged so that a butt moving the pick will itself be moved only after the pick has started to move at least one adjacent butt.

2. The combination of a multi-needle pick and its mounting for a knitting machine which contains elongated slidable butt-carrying elements adapted to engage the pick and to be moved longitudinally thereby, the pick having surfaces respectively arranged to engage the sides and the edges of butts, the surface engageable with butt edges sloping outwardly, from the surface engageable with butt sides, in the direction in which butts are moved by the pick, the pick and its mounting being arranged so that a butt moving the pick will itself be moved only after the pick has started to move at least one adjacent butt.

3. The combination of a multi-needle pick and its mounting for a knitting machine which contains elongated slidable butt-carrying elements adapted to engage the pick and to be moved longitudinally thereby, the pick having surfaces respectively arranged to engage the sides and the edges of butts, said surfaces forming an acute angle with each other, the pick and its mountingr being arranged so that a butt moving the pick will itself be moved only after the pick has started to move at least one adjacent butt.

4. The combination of a multi-needle pick and its mounting for a knitting machine which contains elongated slidable butt-carrying elements adapted to engage the pick and to Ybe moved longitudinally thereby, the pick having on opposite sides thereof butt engaging faces and overhanging wings, the faces of the Wings adjacent to the butt engaging faces forming acute angles with respect to the median plane of the pick, the pick and its mounting being arranged so that a butt moving the pick will itself be moved only after the pick has started to` move at least one adjacent butt.

5. In a knitting machine having elongated slidable butt-carrying elements, a pick adapted to be engaged and moved by the butts and to move the butt-carrying elements longitudinally by reason of its movement, and a mounting for the pick, the pick and mounting being arranged so that a butt moving the pick will itself be moved only after the pick has started to move at least one adjacent butt.

6. In a knitting machine having elongated slidable butt-carrying elements, a pick adapted to be engaged and moved by the butts and to move the butt-carrying elements longitudinally by reason of its movement, and a mounting for the pick, the pick having surfaces respectively arranged to engage the sides and the edges of butts, the sur-face engageable with butt edges sloping outwardly, from the surface engageable with butt sides, in the direction in which butts are moved by the pick, the pick and its mounting being arranged so that a butt moving the pick will itself be moved only after the pick has started to move at least one adjacent butt.

7. In a, knitting machine having elongated slidable butt-carrying elements, a pick adapted to be engaged and moved by the butts and to move the butt-carrying elements longitudinally by reason of its movement, and a mounting for the pick, the pick having surfaces respectively arranged to engage the sides and the edges of butts, said surfaces forming an acute angle with each other, the pick and its mounting being arranged so that a butt moving the pick will itself be moved only after the pick has started to move at least one adjacent butt.

8. In a knitting machine having elongated slidable butt-carrying elements, a pick adapted to be engaged and `moved by the butts and to move the butt-carrying elements longitudinally by reason of its movement, and a mounting for the pick, the pick having on opposite sides thereof butt engaging faces and overhanging wings, the faces of the Wings adjacent to the butt engaging faces forming acute angles with respect to the median plane of the pick, the pick and its mounting being arranged so that 'a butt moving the pick will itself be moved only after the pick has started to move at least one adjacent butt.

FRANK R. PAGE. 

